A Different Meeting
by Blueraingurl
Summary: Alternate Universe: Kenshin and Tomoe meet under different circumstances.


**_Disclaimer_: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.**

-

-

-

**A/N:** I don't know where this story is taking me but I've missed my Tomoe/Kenshin characters . . . so here is this story.

-

-

-

**Warnings:** This fic is completely _Alternate Universe_ so you are warned if you don't like such things. Light swearing, violence, out of character characters, etc . . . Title may change.

-

-

-

-

-

-

_Title: A Different Meeting_

-

-

-

-

-

-

"Papa," Enishi cried onto Tomoe's shoulder.

"Shh," Tomoe spoke, "it's okay Enishi, its okay, I'm here for you."

"Papa," Enishi repeated again. Tomoe embraced her little brother, she had to be strong for them – because there was no one else that could. She had to protect him.

"Enishi, it's time to go," Tomoe spoke clearly as she looked at her relatives. Most avoided her eyes – they had fought a long and hard legal battle for the Yukishiro fortune her father had left her and Enishi because they were still under-aged. But they were unsuccessful and in the end Tomoe realized that she couldn't rely on anyone. She had relied on her childhood friend Akira, but he had passed away earlier and she had been left with a great deal of pain and aching in his stead.

When she was ready to give up on trusting anyone again, her father had brought Aoshi into their house and introduced him as his lawyer. Tomoe didn't know at that time, that her father was in the process of making his will. Although their relationship had been distant because her father was a very quiet man, he had shown no outward signs of deteriorating health.

She didn't know why the lawyer had come by their house for the past two years and thought it was business related. She also didn't know what to think about Aoshi-san, her senior by 10 years and also the one lawyer who her father had trusted. But he was the one person who provided Tomoe with a solid shoulder to rely on after her father's death. He was the reason that they had won in court.

"Tomoe-san," Aoshi stated, "it's time to go."

Tomoe nodded in his direction and held onto Enishi's hand as they walked toward the car parked in front.

"Aoshi-san," Tomoe spoke, "thank you."

He just smiled and reached out for Tomoe's hand, "it'll be hard but I will be here for you."

Tomoe wanted to ask _'why?'_ but held herself; she did not want to be rude but couldn't understand why he would go so far. In silent contemplation, they drove toward the hills passing the countryside trees and mountains. Her father had wanted to be buried in his hometown in Edo.

Tomoe didn't know what to do anymore. She had planned to attend college in the fall but that meant that Enishi would be alone – she didn't want to leave Enishi behind, not when he had just entered high school while she herself was a senior. She had always been there for him, even when her father had been alive because their mother had passed away with his birth. He had come to blame himself for her death – no matter how many times Tomoe held him and told him that it wasn't his fault. However, the growing distance between her brother and her father had increased the guilt that Enishi had felt. Tomoe couldn't explain to her brother that it was just how their father's personality was.

-

-

-

-

Lost in thought, Tomoe didn't recognize danger until the car lurched forward and she slipped to the floor.

-

-

-

-

"Iizuka," Aoshi admonished, "watch where you're going!"

"Aoshi-san," Iizuka, "two suspicious cars had been following us from the cemetery."

Just as Iizuka was saying that, the car behind had maneuvered to the right side of their car.

"What are you doing?" Iizuka opened the window to yell.

Suddenly gunshots had been fired and shattered the back window.

"Enishi," Tomoe yelled, she pulled her brother to the floor of the car and protected him with her body. She felt a wet spot on her forehead and was surprised to see the crimson color on her hand.

"Sister," Enishi cried out, "sister."

"Shh," Tomoe comforted him, "it's okay, I'm here for you."

-

-

-

-

-

Suddenly the car stopped and Aoshi and Iizuka had exited the car. At the same time the two following cars had stopped and each driver had stepped out.

Unsure of what was happening, Tomoe held Enishi tighter.

-

-

-

-

-

"Tomoe-san," Aoshi opened her door, "please, its okay now, you can come out."

She held out her hand to him as he quickly stuck her with a needle.

Enishi watched in horror as his sister fainted into the arms of a red-haired man with a scar on his face.

"SISTER!" Enishi cried out, "let me go Aoshi, let me go."

"It's okay Enishi," Iizuka spoke behind him as he muffled Enishi's mouth with a cloth. The last thing he saw was his sister being held by a young man with flaming red hair.

-

-

-

-

-

"What do you want me to do with her?" the violet eyed person asked.

"Whatever you want, I don't care," Iizuka spoke.

As Kenshin held Tomoe in his arms he was reminded of plums.

He placed her into the front seat of the car and went to the driver's side. As he did this he saw Aoshi place a stick on the pedal of the other car and saw the car tumble down a hill. Then he entered the car where Enishi, Iizuka and Soujiro were in.

As he started the car, he felt a bad premonition and a feeling of uncertainty. _'Why was he in charge of this girl?' _This was different from the other jobs that he had had in the past. Before he had been sent to kill factionist leaders of the rebels against the Japanese government or spies from other countries – he knew this era was a transition from the old Meiji government to the new . . . and he had been forced into the role of an assassin to save the lives of the three women who were like a mother to him. But this job didn't seem politically connected, nor did he understand what a mere child and his sister could be worth to Aoshi-san.

As he thought of these things, he suddenly realized that Soujiro's car was speeding up to his. He felt a brief flash of surprise before he felt the car ram into his – _'dammit! He had let his guard down.'_

He swerved to the right and then to the left . . .

The car kept coming towards him and then he saw Iizuka shoot in his direction. His tires gave out and then suddenly he lost control of the wheels as they rolled down the slope.

What seemed to have been hours, but only minutes, Kenshin opened his eyes. _'Shit, shit, shit'_ – he should have realized that he was a liability to the government because of the image of peace that they had wanted to portray to the citizens and then to the world, _'dammit'_ . . . he knew he shouldn't have stayed complacent and now this girl was a liability to him.

He had to get her out, for some reason he couldn't leave her to this kind of fate after all that had happened so far.

He saw the blood slowly cascading down her face.

He found a way to exit his side of the car . . . the car had been toppled from the crash. In frustration, he slowly pulled her out the door.

With an instinct for survival, Kenshin knew they had to get away from the car before the others came. He held onto her body and slowly moved. As he got further away, he heard a loud bang and thanked god for small miracles – but he knew it was only a matter of time before they realized that Kenshin and this girl Tomoe did not die from the crash.

-

-

-

-

-

-

'_How long had he been walking?' _Kenshin asked himself – it seemed as if there was no one around. The whole area was so deserted. There was an endless line of trees, grass and the mountains in the background. When he felt as if he couldn't go on any further, Kenshin noticed a little hut. He banged on the door and kept knocking.

-

-

-

-

With annoyance, Hiko opened the door slightly to see what the ruckus was. To his surprise as he opened the door, a man with red hair and a woman with black hair crumpled to his feet.

"Please help," Kenshin whispered.

And then there was silence.


End file.
